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I was disappointed to see the misleading article on 20mph speed limits in the Chronicle last week, and shocked that national papers took up such a false story without examining the evidence.

I am calling for the report to be withdrawn so as not to bring the council into further disrepute.

The methodology of the study by B&NES, which the article is based on, is flawed, and the small numbers used make meaningful analysis difficult. However, even a cursory study of the figures shows that the changes are statistically insignificant.

One only has to see that the 'control area' (where the speed limit was not changed from 30mph) had the same increase in people killed or seriously injured as the 20mph zones showing that the conclusion of the report cannot be justified using the very figures the report authors try to justify it with.

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So the accident figures do not support the report's conclusions that the 20mph zones should be removed. What is worse is that the report failed to investigate any positive aspects the lower speed limit may well have introduced, such as an increase in cycling and walking.

We all know that Bath has a serious problem with traffic and air quality, and we know that a large proportion of these journeys are short and unnecessary to make by car. Intuitively a 20mph limit makes cycling more attractive, and pedestrians feel safer. For the study to ignore this is bizarre.

The Green Party stand behind 20mph speed limits and would like to see more of them introduced in B&NES.

Cllr Lin Patterson

Green Party, Lambridge

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